They're known as 'Blunkett's Bobbies' or 'Plastic Police'. There are 16,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) walking the 'beat', costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds per year.
Critics have always attacked them for providing policing on the cheap and a political gimmick, but their supporters say they have been useful in curbing antisocial behaviour and visible reassurance to the public.
Filming with PCSOs at work on the streets of Lancashire, Dispatches investigates whether PCSOs have proven to be a policing success story or an expensive mistake.
